Happy surprises

We were supposed to do school work during the summer starting on vacation.  We did read in the airport, play a math card game at the hotel one or two nights, but besides that the school work was nonexistent.  So I decided we needed to do a little reading.  We hadn’t concentrated on reading because I couldn’t find the time to sit down with Jory and read over his shoulder.   

Jory loves making up words, adding words, or what have you when he’s reading.  You have to be like a hawk when he’s reading aloud.

I grabbed one of his favorite Dr. Seuss’ books, Go, Dog, Go!.  I was cooking but was in a position to look over his shoulder to see exactly what he was reading, though I did know the book fairly well.  Jory started reading and oh my!  My baby can read.  It flowed.  He was sounding out words.  It was amazing.  I had been worried that Jory wasn’t going to know how to read and he was going to be the dumb smart kid on the block.  You know the one that can add multiple columns of five digit numbers, but can’t read The Cat in The Hat.

Why can’t I believe what I say to people?  I think I worry about judgment, others judging what Jory can and can’t do compared to other kids his age.  And I have my own standards of what kids should be doing based on my own school experience.  Except Jory’s school experience isn’t the same as mine and I can’t compare it.  And like some of our forefather, I know kids who didn’t even start reading until they were nine and ten and now as teens I bet they are just as well-read, maybe more so, then their counterparts who started reading in kindergarten.  Aunt Lala was right; God isn’t going to let me stop Him from teaching Jory what He needs and wants Jory to know.  I like having smart friends.